>> bill, anything you want to plug? >> i will be at montclair local hospital in the baby ward for an appearance tomorrow, and my new nephew. >> time's up. see you andy. patty anne brown, nice. bill shultz, dana, pleasure having you on. please come back. see you next time. president obama touts an improving economy. but the jobs picture is still mixed. a wisconsin judge takes center stage in that state's budget battle. it's now one week until the government runs out of money. what are lawmakers doing about it? live from our studio in washington, this is "special report." i'm chris wallace in for bret baier. the obama administration is pointing to new jobs numbers today as evidence of a continuing economic rebound. while the big picture is improving, mike emanuel reports there is disagreement over how to keep the recovery

going. >> at ups, making the case for businesses to transition to clean energy vehicle, president obama sounded pleased the economy created 260,000 jobs last month, dropping unemployment to 8.8%. >> our economy is showing signs of real strength. it makes $1.8 million private sector jobs in 13 months. >> on capitol hill, speaker john boehner welcomed the news but said more needs to be done. >> it's clear we need to cut spending. we need to stop unnecessary regulations. end the threat of tax hikes. these are the pillars of the republican plan that create jobs in america. >> a new poll out this week from quinnipiac university shows most americans, 60%, don't approve of the president's handling of the economy, while 34% of those surveyed approve of the job he's done. the president's focus on energy comes when gasoline

prices risen on average 80 cents in the last year and a quarter this past month. it hurts many american consumers there is a serious concern, higher fuel costs may affect hiring. >> the fact that the speckor of energy increases would have an adverse impact on the job creation. >> a sector shedding jobs is construction, which lost 1,000 jobs in march and still has unemployment rate of 20%. construction activity dropped 1.4% from february. so now it's at the lowest level in a decade. chairman of the council of economic advisors says the housing market is still in a difficult position. >> particularly in different part of the country where it went up and came down. the president has been trying to put some focus to get more construction worker and back to work. whether it's building out the infrastructure or home energy

retrofit or things like that. >> late today, goulet hinted the administration would -- goolsbee hinted they'd revive it higher in the mid-year review. president's budget estimates growth next year but 3.6% next year which aides point out is more conservative than the private sector forecast. >> glenn: thank you for that, mike. the s&p 500 gained six. nasdaq finished eight ahead. crude oil for may delivery added $1.22 to settle at $108 a barrel. gasoline prices were up more than a penny overnight to finish at $3.62 a gallon. and u.s. auto sales were up last month. g.m. had increase of 11% and sales at ford jumped 16%. sales at chrysler increased 31% from this time last year. chrysler said the sales are at the highest level in three

years. the federal reserve identified companies that received fed loans to survive the financial crisis. the central bank was forced to do so after the commercial bank lost a court bat to keep the information private. as fox business correspondent beet peter barnes reports, some of the biggest loans went to foreign companies. new documents show the federal reserve made billions, perhaps trillions in secret emergency loans to almost every major bank in the u.s. and overseas during the financial crisis. the big loans started in 2007 and were disclosed this week after a two-year legal battle by fox business with the fed and big banks. the chairman of the house subcommittee that overseas the fed plans hearings in may. >> i am even with all of my citizens, am i still shocked at the amount? of course, shocked but not completely surprised. not much went to help foreign

banks. a third went to wealthy foreign banks as well. >> the fed declined comment. but the record showed the loans were collateralized in full and have since been repaid. they come from the fed 100-year-old confidential emergency lending program called the discount window. the day the loans peaked in october of 2008, at $111 billion, records show half the total went to two big european banks. as short-term loans. i have a rab bank, now 59% owned by the central bank of libya borrowed multiple times, at least $3 billion in total. the bank of china, more than half a billion on one day. all of this legal, because the banks operate u.s. branches regulated by the fed and make u.s. loans. all of it kept private until now, because the fed and banks worry that naming banks that borrow for emergencies could lose customers and bank runs

and hurt the financial system. damemy dimon ceo of jp morgan chase worry disclosures could hurt the system keeping the troubled banks asking for help because they fear bad publicity. under financial regulation reform, congress requires the fed to disclose discount window loans after two years. chris? >> interesting. thank you, peter. afghan police say they have arrested the suspected mastermind and 19 others behind attack at a u.n. office that killed seven of the staff. protesters gathered peacefully outside the office, but some grab weapons from security guards opened fire and stormed the building. they were in protest at reported burning of quran by florida pastor terry jones. he gave international attention last year for plans to burn the islamic holy book on the tenth anniversary of the september 11 attacks

before deciding not to. a libyan official says muammar gaddafi's government is reaching out to members of the international coalition. to find a way to end airstrikes against the regime. this is as libyan rebels say they will accept a cease-fire if gaddafi recalls the forces. correspondent james rosen is at the pentagon with the latest. >> 130 miles east of tripoli, misurata has seen fighting. they have used tank, grenade and mortar fire on friday. one leader said, "we no longer recognize the place." but the white house says gaddafi's grip continues to slip. >> the overall trend is positive in terms of the conflict. the success that the nato coalition has had. >> but some lawmakers expressed concern that the coalition is failing in the core mission. >> we can't say we averted a

mass monstrosity to accept one in another success in that is not success. >> pummeled by gaddafi 10-1 advantage, rebels had cease-fire demands. the u.s. special envoy encouraged such talk. >> it needs to be, it needs to be effective. >> reporter: but the regime rejected the offer. defense secretary gates argues the rebels are too disorganized to benefit from american arms in training. >> it's not clear what anybody would have to work with, in terms of getting a number of people together for the training, and who is going to be in charge. >> reporter: jamie smith, former c.i.a. officer disagrees. he spent the last ten days in benghazi and thinks the rebels can be trained by 50 soldiers of fortune. >> dealing with people who are inexperienced on the battlefield, the lack of

equipment and supplies. they're accomplished a bit. this will go back and forth for a long time regardless if the united states supplies them with weapons or not there is a black market that engages in munitions sales and that thrive on war and conflict like this. there are also corporations legitimately stood up that have access to this. >> a senior pentagon official confirmed to fox news that gaddafi appears to have gained significant ground in the last week and the top brass do not see the conflict or the american involvement in it ending anytime soon. chris? >> james rosen reporting from the pentagon. thanks for that. joining me now with more on cracks in gaddafi's regime and the situation on the ground, correspondent steve harrigan in tripoli. steve, why haven't the rebels been able to hang on to their gains?

>> reporter: chris it's a matter of leadership for the rebels. they are lacking the command structure they are outnumbered 10-1. among the fighters, most are in small groups of sometimes a new men or a dozen who know each other from the village. they are not communicating with each other and they don't have the communication gear in some cases. the weapons are wrong. gaddafi forces have longer range and the rebels have small arms. that is a problem. we've seen real adaptation in the gaddafi government forces. they are attacking guerilla tactics and getting in civilian vehicles to avoid nato airstrikes. chris? >> glenn: steve, with a stalemate on the battlefield, is there any real movement toward cease-fire? if it were to happen, who would that favor? >> there are hints from both sides about possible cease-fire with the situation stalemateed now two weeks after the strikes began. u.n. envoy was in tripoli

meeting with officials here and today met with rebel leaders in benghazi. for the first time, we are seeing a different kind of conditional cease-fire approach from the rebels in benghazi. for the first time they're not calling for gaddafi to step down immediately. back to you. >> steve harrigan reporting live from tripoli. thank you. >> we will tell you how little of the southern border is protected on the grapevine. but first, hear why the judge blocking wisconsin controversial collective bargaining law may be violating a principle even older than our country. today, investors want retirement planning on their terms. i want to work with people who are objective. how about a plan with my name on it... not someone else's. can we start with realistic goals please?

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there is now just one week until the federal government runs out of money. democrats and republicans are close to a deal, but maybe not close enough. chief political correspondent carl cam reason looks at ma the house is and is not doing while the senate is out of session. now even the president is worried about a shutdown.

>> if the budget negotiations break down, we could end up having to shut down the government. just at a time when the economy is starting to recover. we can't allow that to happen. >> democrats claim a deal is near to avert a shutdown and avert total spending. but the house republicans passed $61 billion in cuts and again today said the democrats' counteroffer is too low. >> there is no number, no agreement on a number. we're going to fight for the largest spending cuts that we can get. >> that leaves wiggle room on the deal on the size of the cuts but there is another impasse. the g.o.p. policy riders to defund healthcare reform, and epa, which democrats said they would never accept. >> we are not going to bend on some of the ridiculous riders they have. >> for the second day in the row, house tea party conservative and deficit hawk, on the steps. >> they're planning to shut

down the government for the political purposes. it's a diabolical plan they have hatched out. they are bringing forth right now. >> inside the capital, house republicans pass the government shutdown prevention act to block lawmaker pay should a shutdown occur. the measure goes nowhere because it declared that the house pass $61 billion cut package will be law if they pass no spending bill next week. since the bills require senate approval to become law, democrats dismissed the joke as an april fool's joke. >> wasting the public's time on a notion, not even idea, but a notion that does not rise to the credible idea that one house can deem a bill the law of land. >> a shutdown looms in seven days. the problem is the calendar. the house would need three days to pass it and the senate

needs another day to pass it. with no deal in sight or draft legislation on the horizon, they need to vote an extension to avoid shutting down the government a week from tonight. >> carl cameron reporting from capitol hill. thank you. >> house budget committee chairman congressman paul ryan joins me on fox news sunday to unveil his new budget plan. florida republican senator rubio makes his first show appearance as member of congress to discuss the debt and libya. check your local listings. more testimony about the controversial collective bargaining law put on hold for now. mike tobin reports on that and similar battle in another state. >> they walked out, demonstrated, and stormed the capital building and now still ongoing today, wisconsin democrats are using the courts to stop a law that cripples union clout. >> this is a violation of law.

>> in a challenge whether they violated the open meeting law, the judge issued a restraining order last week to prevent the secretary of state enacting the law. yesterday she firmed up the language in the restraining order until the frustrated republicans honored it and stopped implementing the law. >> she is the poster child for the activist judge judicial branch we've been hearing about for so many years. >> yesterday, ohio governor signed a bill to restrict the collective bar ganning right of state employee union. enraged ohio democratss are responding by putting statewide referendum on the ballot to reveal it. every effort is met by a fight that experts say becomes central in the american political debate. >> it's bigger than redistricting and the deficit fight in d.c. it has brought together biggest interest group in american politics, business and labor as well as the two

parties and it's becoming a dry run for the 2012 presidential election. >> the bureau of labor statistics say twice as many people are working in government than manufacturerring. the "wall street journal" opines that college graduates are seeking government job for the promise of lifetime security. that security is said to be guaranteed by unions armed with collective bargaining. opponents say drives up paychecks and the budget of local governments. >> they don't control the budgets anymore. it's control bade contract. that is dangerous about where we are right now in wisconsin and the fights we're seeing in the other states as well. >> this fight is manifesting in many venues in wisconsin, democrats collected enough signatures to move recall effort forward to a republican state senator there is also an election for a state supreme court seat that has take on the form of a statewide referendum over the union specific law incumbent

is related to walker and the budget. challenger has back of the union. >> thank you. there are calls for aarp to lose the non-profit status. that's later. up next, the protests continue in syria, yemen and jordon. we're live from the middle east after the

now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. the united nations admits it lost $600,000 on a cruise ship for u.n. staffers aiding earthquake stricken haiti.

it canceled the $72,000 per day rental of the ola esmerelda after report of expenses that fox news analysis showed were as much as double the commercial market price. ton auditor report found that due to the nature of the contract there was no legal basis for getting back any money for the unuseed portion. the u.s. government can prevent illegal entry from mexico along the 120-mile of the border. this say cording to a federal audit. the border patrol says there is an acceptable level of control along 873 miles, which it defines as, "the capability to deter or detect and apprehend incursions at the immediate border or after entry." homeland security secretary janet napolitano defended the obama administration's record. she said "we have actually removed more illegal immigrants from the country

than any two years prior." rutgers university is coming under fire after reality tv star snooki was paid $32,000, yes, $32,000 to speak to students about her hairstyle, fist pumps and lifestyle. the star of the "jersey shore" got $2,000 more than rutgers is paying nobel prize winning novellest toni morrison to deliver the commencement address in may. rutgers said today, "the decision to invite snooki and her comedy act to the campus was based on input from students no state funds or tuition money are used for these events. the university does not sensor the speakers students choose to invite to campus." 1,000 students turned out for snooki who shared advice, study hard, but party harder. some lawmakers are calling for aarp the country's biggest senior citizen organization to lose the non-profit status because of the lobbying last

year for the healthcare reform bill. others say the move is a witch hunt. correspondent doug mckelway has a fair and balanced look at the controversy. >> less than two days after releasing report to call on the i.r.s. to investigate non-profit status of aar push republicans on the house ways and moons committee questioned the organization's ceo. >> the facts show that aarp no longer operates like a seniors advocacy organization. >> according to the report, aarp makes hundreds of millions of dollars from marketing health insurance. >> the revenue that aarp receives from lending the name to products and services goes directly to fulfilling our mission and serving people 50-plus. >> the questioning quickly led to frustration and members questioning not witnesses but each other. >> did you and your colleague pay for this? >> democrats accused

republicans of a double standard. pointing out that other politically active group as the tea party patriots and crossroads gps enjoy the same tax-exempt status of aarp. >> this is nothing other than political witch hunt. i ask the colleague who is next? my church? >> the executive officer took issue being called "insurance company. " >> you receive royalties to rank you as the sixth largest health insurance company in the united states. is that not correct? >> we're not an insurance company. >> asked if the report warrants further investigation in the aarp tax-exempt status, two tax attorneys offered polar opposite views. >> my answer to that question is yes. >> i saw nothing in that section of the report that would cause me to think that revocation of exemption is

likely, probable or warranted. >> staffers on the ways and means committee says the report will be handed to the i.r.s. next week and a formal request for investigation. >> prosecutions are sper viewing former aide to john edwards as they decide whether to indict the former presidential candidate over payments that were made to keep his pregnant mistress hunter in hiding. andrew young posed as the father of the baby in the campaign is expected to be the justice department chief witness. ed yards acknowledged last year he followed the girl. >> we look at the latest economic numbers and whether they're a sign of a rebounding economy. the panel is next.

nearly two years after one of the worst recessions in our

history, certainly the worst one in our lifetime, our economy is showing signs of real strength. >> it's been 21 months since the recession ended. we're still down $7.2 million nonfarm payroll jobs from when it started. >> president obama and republican congressman kevin brady with very different views today of the nation's jobs picture. it's time to bring in our panel. steve hayes from the "weekly standard." kirsten powers of the "new york post." and charles krauthammer. the big number about the economy added net in march of 216,000 jobs and the unemployment ticked down to 8.8%. put up numbers inside numbers. unemployment dropped a full percentage point in four months, the biggest decline since 1983. the private sector added 1.8 million jobs in 13 months

but still 13.5 million americans unemployed. good news, very good news or great news? >> i think far more good news than bad news. if you look at the past six months worth of job reports you could have made the argument essentially we were treading water. this suggests on jobs in the snapshot we're in longer spreading water. if you are under 200,000, that's in the right direction. but the biggest problem is there are other indicators that the economy is not growing as quickly as we'd like it to. contrary to what the president said. yesterday, the former labor secretary saying we were headed for double-dip recession. consumer confidence is plummeting, energy prices rising, food prices going up. the things that would restrict what consumers will do, how they spend money is a big

long-term downer. >> on the other hand, austan goolsbee was sent out by the white house and he talked about the fact that the administration projected 2.67% growth this -- 2.7% growth this year and 3.6% next year and they now think the numbers are too low and they will revive them upward. he seems to indicate despite the drags and certainly the unrest in the middle east, the oil prices are drags but the economy is chugging along. >> those people i spoke to today at the white house reiterated they seemed happy at what they call great news. they see this as something beginning a trend. not just a oneoff number, something that they think they are finally getting that, you know, the jobs lagging indicator in the recovery. finally we're starting to see that. they see this as being on the upswing. >> charles, do you see a trend here? >> well, from what i hear from the economists i respect, it looks as if the numbers indicate a self-sustaining

recovery. and if this continues the downward slope in unemployment, you can project it to november of next year. where it would be way below 8%. that would be a real positive for the administration. the one real negative on the horizon is in part oil but also general inflation, commodity inflation. two reason. it takes money out of everybody's pocket. whether it's a consumer or business. it has high cost in transportation it has to pass on that. is a drag on the economy. billions are going overseas. secondly, if inflation picks up you have to get a rise in interest rate. the european central bank is talking about raising the rate. inflation is higher. once you have a rise of interest rate, that is a second drag on the economy. if that happens, in all of this could stall out at the end of the year. >> you know, steve, i mean, you talk some negative factors there certainly are some.

one positive factor is that we did a have lot of unrest in the middle east in the month of march. obviously, ending rup the u.s. involve in the the last week or two in libya. continued spike in oil prices. yet it didn't hurt the jobs picture. in march. that is significant. >> it might be. what kirsten said jobs being lagging indicator, we might see this show up in subsequent month. the consumer confidence has taken a hit down ten points in march. you are talked about a continueed escalation of oil prices and potentially effect on manufacturerring from what happened in japan. you see these things in jobs a couple months down the road. >> kirsten, talk about the politics that charles touched on. the fact is i think we would all agree that the unemployment number is important to president obama bid for re-election. what is the magic number? how low does he have to get by the number of 2012 to credibly

argue he got the country out of a real fiscal crisis, and managed the economy reasonably well. >> i don't think it's a magic number. it's ticking down slowly. 1%. >> one-tenth of a percent. >> the we see something like that and we are moving in the right direction. we may not be where you want to be, but we are taking you in the right direction. don't get off your horse mid-stream. >> if the slope is down and the number is under 8%, i think it's net positive. >> what if the absolute number is above 8 in fact >> then it's a wash. >> people operate off the unemployment that we had. so it's improvement. if you look at the polls, ism bah bam doing a good job on the economy, the numbers are low. 60% say no to 37%.

this is part unemployment but element now is the gasoline prices. it has effect on the impression of how the administration is doing. if it is high, no indication it will go lower, it will hurt the president. that is why he gave a worthless speech wednesday on oil import. he thought he had to do something. though there was nothing in it. still might have an effect. >> no sugarcoating in the next segment. >> i say it with all due respect. >> that goes without saying. up next, the friday lightning @tí$@eñd your choice online

every week, viewers vote for your choice online. in our friday lightning round poll. what subject you want us to discuss. the winner this week, wait for it, aarp, with a resounding 46% of the vote. so for those who haven't been paying attention, the house republicans are investigating whether or not aarp should keep the tax status as non-profit organization. critics focus on the fact that aarp was very instrumental lobbying for healthcare reform and now stands to make a billion dollars in the next decade accord stog the critics , because it supports the medi-gap, supplemental medicare that people need with the healthcare reform. >> that is comprehensive. how much trouble are aarp in? >> shining a light on them is long overdue. they got exemptions in

december. this organization brings in $650 million due to royalties. they bless insurance plans. using their name. they make money off of doing that. why shouldn't it be scrut newsed, especially if they are getting exemption? >> it's scrut newsed but a lot of criticism is they're making money as a non-profit. but plenty of non-profits make money. nothing suspicious about that. they argue they endorse the plans because they think it's good for the people who go on to aarp. i find this is a curious political strategy that this has become the base of the republican party, the democrats lost seniors by 20 points in the last election. for them to separate it out and say we're not attacking aarp -- we're attacking aarp but not the seniors is a tough sell. >> if you are going against your natural political interest, you would imply you're doing it out of a national interest, which i think would be laudable.

aarp has a cozy deal. non-profit. not taxed. makes huge profit on the healthcare industry. medi-gap. incidentally or not. the real issue is helped by obamacare it lobbied in support of. it looks fishy so it warrants investigation. >> issue two. the issue of transparency inside the obama administration, as president promised when he came in to be the most transparent presidents. he even received award for transparency this week at the white house, but closed to the pes and held behind closed doors. you have can't make this stuff up. one listen they may have been sensitive is reports that the department of homeland security has been slow and sometimes obstructionist in responding to freedom of information requests. >> right, which is what the administration said they would

do in the first few days and president said he would not withhold documents because they could cause political embarrassment. that appears to be exactly what has happened in the case. >> i think this is one of these things that every administration does. not excusing it. but there is always tension between political appointee and civil servants. political appointees were acting badly. one in the foia office complained about it. i think because obama held himself up as being so transparent he is held to a higher standard. >> my motto in political life if you never expect anything, you will never suffer disappointment. having never expected that obama would be hope and change, messianic transcender or a guy that would redeem or heal the earth, i'm not surprised he promised to be transparent and it turned out he isn't exactly that. she's right, all administrations have done it. i'm not surprised. they all want to hold on to

secrets and will exist in the effort to uncover them. >> final top nick the round round -- -- final topic in lightning round. continued demonstration in yesmen and more violence in syria. which are you paying attention to? >> yemen has the potential to be a huge problem for the united states. in part because we're still backing ali abdullah saleh, who is the president of yemen, who has been a very uneven u.s. ally in the war on terror. administration argues he has been a good ally and helped us with the fight against al-qaeda in arabian peninsula, the most potent al-qaeda franchise. i argue he hasn't been as helpful. whatever game, we've lost, now that he is killing people in streets continuing to back him. >> yemen is interesting because of the person that could take over from him has ties to al-qaeda. he may not do as good a job as

we like, it would be worse if the other person took over. so, you know, what is interesting about all of these is how different they all are. >> i think the most important is syria. it's also the most surprising, because it's the most effectively repressive. it's the most important strategically, because it's iran's only strong ally in the arab world. it's an an an -- an ally of hezbollah. funneled fighters against us in iraq. if there was a change in syria, it would change the middle east. the administration's silence on this and having the secretary of state saying openly it looks as if assad is a reformer at a time he's shooting reform demonstrators in the street is disgraceful. they should speak out against this strongly. this is like 2009 where the administration withheld the criticism and it should don't that again. >> glenn: that's it for

panel. stave tuned to find out what. >> that's it for the panel. >> that's it for the panel. stay tuned to find out what is

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